Scott Young
far he could push himself through the discomfort to reach the end.
“ I knew what I had to do each day. It became almost automatic, wake up, get ready, wait for the lift, and think, here we go again. It hit me every day, but I just kept going.”
Most of his runs took place at Samantha Riley Drive Oval, close to parking so he could stop every 8 – 10 kilometres for food and water that he kept stashed in an esky in his truck. The runs were made easier when he was joined by friends, his running coach, Wayne, who joined for laps and some of Wayne’ s clients who came to run alongside him. However, it was the support of the general public who saw him running about in a pizza suit that really motivated Scott.
“ Those chats and moments with people helped so much, it amazed me that someone would stop to have a chat and then scan my QR code and donate money to a person they saw running in a park.”
Adding a pizza suit might sound like a quirky gimmick, but for Scott it became one of the most powerful parts of the challenge. It helped to start a lot of conversations and as part of his run went onto a road during school drop off times he got a lot of kids waving and shouting‘ Pizza Man!’ at him, which helped to raise his profile on local social media. While the costume did its part to draw attention to him, it had it’ s downsides too..
“ The body part wasn’ t too bad, but the hat was heavy and sweaty. And running near the school traffic at Samantha Riley Drive, well, there was a lot of exposure in that suit!”
Scott says it was worth it. A friend tagged him in a local community Facebook post where someone asked,“ Does anyone know why a man dressed as a pizza is running around Samantha Riley Drive?”
Scott’ s effort caught attention from friends, family, strangers, and eventually the challenge organisers. His fundraising steadily climbed until he reached $ 9,000. Then, on the final day of the challenge a group meet-up at Lady Macquarie’ s Chair and something extraordinary happened.
As Scott and others completed their final uncomfortable challenge, Commonwealth Bank surprised Scott with a $ 10,000 contribution that instantly brought his total to more than $ 19,000.
“ I wasn’ t expecting that at all,” he says.“ It was incredible. Seeing so many people get involved, even people I’ d never met, was humbling. Some grabbed the QR code and donated $ 20 or $ 50 on the spot. It really blew me away.”
Scott’ s daily routine didn’ t end with finishing each marathon. He also owns Bella Baulkham Pizzeria in the Hills, and his staff were a key part of his success.
“ They picked up a lot of the slack. I would go in during the afternoons to help out, but my team was amazing. If I’ d been working full-time somewhere else, it would have been a lot trickier.”
All money raised goes to We Are Mobilise, the charity behind Nedds Uncomfortable Challenge, which is
Scott at the Botanic Gardens on the last day of the challenge.
committed to ending homelessness in Australia. Their focus is on providing dignity, support and long-term solutions for people sleeping rough.
“ This is their biggest fundraiser of the year,” Scott says.“ They work really hard, and having someone like Nedd Brockmann leading the movement draws people in. They raised around $ 1.5 million this year. It’ s incredible.”
Scott is proud to be part of that impact and says many people have already told him they’ re inspired to take on the challenge themselves next year.
“ I’ m definitely keen to do the challenge again. Maybe not in a pizza costume, and maybe not ten marathons. But being part of it, being around all those people pushing themselves and supporting each other, it was special.”
Looking back, Scott says the discomfort was worth every kilometre.
“ Even on the last day, when my body was broken, crossing that finish line with everyone else was incredible. I felt proud of what we achieved and what it could mean for people who really need support.”
Scott’ s story proves that sometimes, the most uncomfortable challenges are the ones that bring out the very best in us and inspire others to take their own first step.
THE HILLS INDEPENDENT theindependentmagazine. com. au ISSUE 127 // JANUARY 2026 7